President Lund Visits Latter-day Saints at West Point

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By Trent Toone, Church News

After serving in the Netherlands Amsterdam Mission as a young man, Young Men General President Steven J. Lund followed the Spirit’s guidance and enlisted in the United States Army, where he served from 1975 to 1979 (three years active duty and another year of active reserve). During that time, he was stationed in Georgia, Frankfurt, Germany and California.

Because of that experience, President Lund was especially grateful for the opportunity to visit Latter-day Saint cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, from February 6 to 8.

“I related to these young adults on a different level than some might because I have worn the uniform too,” President Lund told the Church News following the ministry visit. “It was a joy to go and witness some truly great Saints doing great things.”

It was his first visit to West Point. President Lund was accompanied by his wife, Kalleen, and Todd Linton, a retired Air Force colonel and director of the Church’s Military Relations and Chaplain Services Division and Prison Ministries Division.

During the three-day ministry, they met with more than 40 cadets and faculty who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as West Point military officials.

They held a devotional with members of the Hudson Valley YSA Branch, an adult training with local members, and a multistake youth devotional attended by 450.

President Lund said he was “deeply moved by the West Point community of Saints who operate under such extraordinary, physical and mental demands, and yet are still maintaining balance and discipleship in their lives.”

Some of the cadets are considering or preparing for missionary service. Others are currently serving missions and hope to reapply and return.

“Those are all cadets who have had to get congressional appointments to get to West Point,” President Lund said. “They have got to have the academics. They have got to pass a very challenging physical fitness test and go through several interviews. So they get there, and then two years later, they are willing to step away to go serve a mission with no guarantee to return. Pretty amazing.”

The visit by President and Sister Lund was deeply appreciated, said Lt. Col. Matthew Ellett, an academy professor of Russian at West Point who serves as president of the Hudson Valley YSA Branch in the Newburgh New York Stake.

“For these young people, both cadets and non-cadets, often out here in the northeast, sometimes you can feel easily forgotten because Church membership is sparse, especially for young single adults,” Ellett said. “So having these visits and letting them know that, yes, they are cared about, and they are thought about, is very valuable.”

Founded in 1802, West Point is located north of New York City on a scenic bend in the Hudson River. The United States military academy has produced numerous notable military, political, business and civic leaders in U.S. history.

In 1871, Willard Young — a son of President Brigham Young — became the first Latter-day Saint to join the West Point community.

President Jeffrey R. Holland, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, visited West Point in 2022 and dedicated a new Latter-day Saint chapel near the academy. President Holland also visited in 2010 for the National Day of Prayer Breakfast.

Reflecting on the visit, President Lund said, “It was an amazing life experience, something I will not forget.”